Macau police Saturday arrested six people—including a top executive at one of the Chinese territory’s casino operators—that they suspect of running a major prostitution ring, according to a police statement and a person familiar with the matter.

Alan Ho—a longtime senior executive at
SJM Holdings Ltd.
and the nephew of SJM founder and Macau gambling mogul Stanley Ho—was among those arrested on suspicion of running a ring at SJM’s historic Lisboa hotel, according to the person.

Alan Ho couldn’t immediately be reached for comment and it wasn’t clear if he had a lawyer.

Local media cited a spokesman for Macau’s Judiciary Police as saying the bust was the largest such crackdown on alleged prostitution since the former Portuguese colony was returned to China in 1999.

Prostitution is legal in Macau, but inciting the act is against the law. There have been periodic raids at casinos where sex workers allegedly congregate.

The bust comes just weeks after Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Macau for the 15th anniversary of its return to China and reiterated calls for the territory to diversify its economy away from gambling. It also comes amid a seven-month losing streak in Macau, which last year recorded its first annual decline in gambling revenue since data became available in 2002 due to China’s corruption crackdown. In addition to bringing down many top mainland officials, the sweeping campaign has led highrollers to shy away from Macau’s baccarat tables, casino executives say.

The suspected prostitution ring made at least 400 million Macanese pataca ($50 million) from some 2,400 sex workers, the police said Monday in a Chinese-language statement. In addition to the six suspected ring leaders, the government took 96 suspected sex workers to the public prosecutions office for further investigation, the statement said. The police didn’t name the executives or the hotel where they suspect the ring operated, and a spokesperson declined to comment further Monday.

According to a 2008 filing to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, Alan Ho had been a member of SJM’s senior management since 2002 and oversaw “purchasing, renovation and maintenance.” Currently he functions as the de facto boss of the Lisboa hotel, said a person familiar with the matter.

Macau police Saturday arrested six people—including a top executive at one of the Chinese territory’s casino operators—that they suspect of running a major prostitution ring, according to a police statement and a person familiar with the matter.